Part 2a - The Trinity of God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Article I - The Triunity of God
We believe God is triune, one Being (Heb. Echad) eternally existing in three co-equal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; these divine Persons, together possessing the same eternal perfections, work inseparably and harmoniously in creating, sustaining, and redeeming the world.
Ancient Trinitarian Heresies
Ancient Trinitarian Heresies
Dynamic Monarchianism
Dynamic Monarchianism
In the late second and third centuries, two attempts were made to formulate a precise definition of the relationship between Messiah and God. Both views have been referred to as monarchianism, since they stress the uniqueness and unity of God, but only the latter claimed the designation for itself.
Originator of the View: Theodotus
Literally means “sole sovereignty”
Literally means “sole sovereignty”
Introducing Christian Doctrine Dynamic Monarchianism
God was dynamically present in the life of the man Jesus.
God was dynamically present in the life of the man Jesus.
There was a working or force of God on or in or through the man Yeshua, but there was no real substantive presence of God within him.
God was dynamically present in the life of the man Jesus.
Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, ed. Arnold L. Hustad, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 113.
Prior to baptism Yeshua was an ordinary, although completely virtuous man.
At Yeshua’s baptism, the Spirit, or the Anointing, descended on him, and from that time on he performed miraculous works of God.
Dynamic monarchianism was never a widespread popular phenomenon.
Modalistic Monarchianism
Modalistic Monarchianism
By contrast, modalistic monarchianism was a more influential teaching. Whereas dynamic monarchianism seemed to deny the doctrine of the Trinity, modalism appeared to affirm it. Both varieties of monarchianism desired to preserve the doctrine of the unity of God.
Originator of the View: Noetus of Smyrna and Sabellius
Originator of the View: Noetus of Smyrna and Sabellius
Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, ed. Arnold L. Hustad, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 113.
Modalism, however, was also strongly committed to the full deity of Yeshua.
Modalism, however, was also strongly committed to the full deity of Yeshua.
Since the term “Father” was generally regarded as signifying the Godhead itself, any suggestion that the Word or Son was somehow other than the Father appeared to the modalists to be a case of bitheism, belief in two gods.
The essential idea of this school of thought is that there is one Godhead that may be variously designated as Father, Son, or Spirit. The terms do not stand for real distinctions, but are merely names that are appropriate and applicable at different times.
The modalistic solution to the paradox of threeness and oneness was, then, not three persons, but one person with three different names, roles, or activities.
The terms do not stand for real distinctions, but are merely names that are appropriate and applicable at different times. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are identical—they are successive revelations of the same person. The modalistic solution to the paradox of threeness and oneness was, then, not three persons, but one person with three different names, roles, or activities.
The problem: modalism cannot give any account to scenes where the the three occasionally appear simultaneously on the stage of biblical revelation doing differing things, talking to one another, and performing unique roles.
After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!”
He said to them, “It is not your place to know the times or seasons which the Father has placed under His own control. But you will receive power when the Ruach ha-Kodesh has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah. He chose us in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons through Messiah Yeshua, in keeping with the good pleasure of His will—
Eph 1:3-5
After you heard the message of truth—the Good News of your salvation—and when you put your trust in Him, you were sealed with the promised Ruach ha-Kodesh.
Eph 1:
But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the ancient covenant, since in Messiah it is passing away.
The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the love of God and the fellowship of the Ruach ha-Kodesh be with you all. Amen.
Modalistic monarchianism was a genuinely unique, original, and creative conception, and in some ways a brilliant breakthrough.
Both the unity of the Godhead and the deity of all three—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are preserved. But it does not accurately describe the distinction and individual personhood of the Father, Son, and the Spirit.
Modalistic monarchianism was a genuinely unique, original, and creative conception, and in some ways a brilliant breakthrough. Both the unity of the Godhead and the deity of all three—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are preserved.
Arianism
Arianism
Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, ed. Arnold L. Hustad, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 113.
Originator: Arius (ca. 250–336), an antitrinitarian presbyter of Alexandria, distinguished the one eternal God from the Son who was generated by the Father and who thus had a beginning.
The baptismal scene, where the Father speaks to the Son, and the Spirit descends on the Son, is an example, together with all those passages where Jesus speaks of the coming of the Spirit, or speaks of or to the Father.
He also taught that the Holy Spirit was the first thing created by the Son, since all things were made by the Son.
Arius (ca. 250–336), an antitrinitarian presbyter of Alexandria, distinguished the one eternal God from the Son who was generated by the Father and who thus had a beginning. He
Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 64.
Summary of Ancient Heresies on the Trinity
Summary of Ancient Heresies on the Trinity
Dynamic Monarchialism
Modalistic Monarchialism
Arianism
The Orthodox Formulation
The Orthodox Formulation
The Three Councils that Defined the Tri-unity of God
The Three Councils that Defined the Tri-unity of God
The Council of Nicea 325 AD
The Council of Constantinople 381 AD
The Council of Chalcedon 451 AD
The Council of Nicea
The Council of Nicea
It was led by Athanasius (293-373 AD).
It was led by Athanasius (293-373 AD).
He was African
He worked in Coptic in Egypt
He is considered one of the greatest leaders in history and is credited with saving the body of the Messiah from the most popular heresy in the world, Arianism
Condemned the Arian and Monarchial View of the Tri-unity of God
Condemned the Arian and Monarchial View of the Tri-unity of God
Condemned the Arian and Monarchial View of the Tri-unity of God
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The Nicene Creed of 325
The Nicene Creed of 325
The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Creed of 325
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;
He suffered, and the third day He rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence (Gk: homoousios) as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
homoousios) as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (Greek: homoousios) with the Father; by whom all things were made;
homoousios) with the Father; by whom all things were made;
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; He suffered, and the third day He rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
He suffered, and the third day He rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost.
Elliot Ritzema, “Nicene Creed,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Clarification 381
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Clarification 381
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made;
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
We [I] believe in ONE GOD THE FATHER Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
And of all things visible and invisible.
And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Elliot Ritzema, “Nicene Creed,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Maker of heaven and earth,
And of all things visible and invisible.
Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical Notes: The History of Creeds, vol. 1 (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1878), 27.
The Importance of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
The Importance of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
Yeshua is homoousios of the same substance with the Father and not omoiousios of a “similar substance” of the Father nor was Yeshua heteroousios of a different substance than the Father.
omoiousios
of the same substance with the Father
heteroousios
Yeshua is a begotten Son because He is from the Father and of the same substance of Father but not because He is younger, lesser, nor reduced in any way from the Father.
The idea of “coinherence” or, as later termed, “perichoresis,” of the persons is emphasized.
Themelios: Volume 36, No. 1, April 2011 1.2. Open Transcendentals and the Nature of the Church
“God is not God,” Gunton writes, “apart from the way in which Father, Son and Spirit in eternity give to and receive from each other what they essentially are. The three do not merely coinhere, but dynamically constitute one another’s being.”
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 305.
Themelios: Volume 36, No. 1, April 2011 1.2. Open Transcendentals and the Nature of the Church
God is what he is by virtue of the “dynamic relatedness” of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and reality at all levels displays this relatedness, its own perichoresis.
Gunton, The One, the Three and the Many, 164
Paradox and Truth: Rethinking Van Til on the Trinity One and Many
[T]he holy Trinity is a transcendent society or community of three fully personal and fully divine entities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit or Paraclete. These three are wonderfully unified by their common divinity, by the possession by each of the whole divine essence—including, for instance, the properties of everlastingness and sublimely great knowledge, love and glory. They are also united by their common historical redemptive purpose, revelation, and work. Their knowledge and love are directed not only to their creatures, but also primordially and archetypally to each other. The Trinity is thus a zestful, wondrous community of divine light, love, joy, mutuality, and verve.
Paradox and Truth: Rethinking Van Til on the Trinity Bibliography
Plantinga, Cornelius, Jr. “The Threeness/Oneness Problem of the Trinity.” Calvin Theological Journal 23, no. 1 (April 1988).
Their is an equivalent authority between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
There has been a temporary subordination of the Son to the Father, and of the Holy Spirit to both Father and Son, but this is only temporary, for the purpose of accomplishing the special tasks that the Son took on during his earthly ministry, and that the Spirit fulfills in relationship to salvation.
Son to the Father, and of the Holy Spirit to both Father and Son, but contends that this was only temporary, for the purpose of accomplishing the special tasks that the Son took on during his earthly ministry, and that the Spirit fulfills in relationship to salvation.
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 307.
- What is the difference?
In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God.
Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firm the traditions just as I passed them on to you. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Messiah, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Messiah is God.
The Holy Spirit is more emphatically and clearly included in the Tri-Unity of God as a Divine person.
Christian Theology, 3rd ed. The Orthodox Formulation
The formula that expresses the position of Constantinople is “one οὐσία (ousia) in three ὑποστάσεις (hupostaseis).” The emphasis often seems to be more on the latter part of the formula, that is, the separate existence of the three persons, rather than on the one indivisible Godhead. The one Godhead exists simultaneously in three modes of being or hypostases.